Stop wasting my time

September 11, 2013 — 5.38am

My day was recently 'TKOd', first by a prospective client who insisted on meeting halfway across town, and then by a lunch that dragged on. These and other time killing obligations (TKOs) chewed up the day and meant working until midnight to catch up.

Nobody forced me to attend these meetings and, yes, being approached by another firm, invited to a nice lunch, and having coffee with a person seeking advice, are good problems. Much better than waiting for the phone to ring or being desperate for work and cash flow.

Don't be a slave to other people's demands on your time.

But as any busy business owner knows, TKOs cost money and lifestyle. When your most precious resource is time, the ability to sift between good and bad meetings is critical. It’s amazing how a supposed “quick coffee” can knock out most of the morning.

What’s your view?

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What are your biggest time killing obligations?

How do you decide between good and bad meetings and functions?

How do you say no to the bad ones?

How do you reduce time wasted at meetings and other events?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m all for networking and strongly believe in being open to new people and possibilities. So often, the most interesting work comes from unexpected places, all because you took a chance and made an effort to meet somebody new and listen to him or her.

Problems arise when others hijack your day: an overzealous networker decides he or she wants to meet you; another business owner wants to meet to get free advice, under the guise of a lunch; an entrepreneur wants to meet to leverage your ideas or network, offering little in return. Or somebody wants to have breakfast/coffee/lunch because he or she doesn’t have enough work and likes to socialise.

An occupational hazard as a journalist is being bombarded each week with offers to meet people and write gushing stories about them. Thankfully, you can mostly ignore them, with little harm done. It’s not so easy in business when one must be customer-focused and conscious of networking.

Also, stories about productivity often focus on smaller things: checking emails, to-do lists, prioritising, and delegating - all worthy topics, although in my experience not nearly as beneficial as avoiding big time-wasters: unnecessary meetings, lunches, functions and recurring commitments such as being on committees.

Here are seven tips to avoid time wasters:

1. Ask: what do you want from me?

Perhaps not that bluntly, but it’s doesn’t hurt to politely ask about the meeting’s purpose. All too often, small business owners agree to meetings with no or loose agendas. They sit through lunch wondering what this person wants. Had they known that at the start, they might have declined the lunch and saved two hours of their day.

2. Group potential tyre kickers in one session

All too often, small business owners agree to meetings with no or loose agendas

A tradesmen I use does all quoting and business development on Fridays and is on the tools the rest of the week. When Friday is full, it’s full, and clients have to wait. It’s a simple strategy: rather than spread potential TKOs across the week, he does them back to back in one day to create efficiencies. Yes, it’s not always possible because of client demands, but a more disciplined time allocation to business and career development pays dividends.

3. Learn to say no

It’s not always easy. When you’re frantic, it’s often easier to say yes to that lunch in three weeks or speak at that function in two months, to make the request go away. Or you don’t want to offend somebody who sends a kind invitation. The key is to weigh up the invitation before firing back that acceptance email.

4. Avoid the milkers

You can spot overzealous networkers a mile away. It usually starts with a glowing email about how you share common professional interests and how it would be advantageous to meet; then a swanky lunch; constant talk about their network and how they can introduce you to others; an email later that afternoon asking you to join their LinkedIn network; and another invitation two weeks later.

Next thing you know, you’re invited to their social events, more time is wasted, and their contacts start calling, wanting something.

Prospective clients, too, can be great time milkers if they meet under the promise of work, but pick your brains for options and ideas without paying for them, thinking a free lunch is sufficient. A friend became so frustrated with this practice he started charging people a flat fee for introductory meetings to stop being milked for free advice. It halved his TKOs in a flash.

5. Don’t over network

An easy trap for new business owners is to think they must meet everybody who calls. Network, network, network – right? Wrong. The result is a scattergun approach, a low-quality network, and plenty of TKOs that limit productive work.

Some good advice I received was identifying 12 people at the start of the year who can genuinely help your business or career and trying to meet one a month. The goal was building and maintaining a high-quality network, where you help it as much as it helps you, and strengthen it over time.

6. Don’t over meet

Long experience has taught the value of shorter, fewer meetings: Skype or email instead of unnecessary face-to-face meetings; breakfast or coffee instead of lunch; meeting at 12.15pm for lunch and ordering one course early, to avoid the rush; and asking those who want to meet to come to you.

7. Value your time

Most of all, put a price on your time, not down to the last dollar or cent, but enough to weigh up whether that lunch/function/committee role is worth the time investment. You can never know if some invitations are TKOs in disguise, or if they lead to that great piece of work that comes from being open and generous, and taking a chance. But valuing your time – and having a more structured approach to business and career development – will limit the killer blows from TKOs.

Tony Featherstone is a former managing editor of BRW and Shares magazines.